One robot can do the work of two to three people

If you see a waist-high metal cylinder zipping along a hotel corridor and riding the lift, do not be afraid.

It is probably Aura, which will be at the service of guests at five hotels here in the next 12 months.

Aura, which stands for Automated Room-Service Associate, is a robot which is able to find its way around the hotel to deliver room amenities such as linens and water bottles to guests.

The Millennium Hotels and Resorts group has piloted Aura at one of its hotels and will roll out the robots to four others in the next 12 months, in the biggest push so far to deploy robots among hotels here.

Park Avenue Rochester Hotel deployed two robot housemaids last year. The latest initiative will involve at least five robots.